NCAA 2005 First Impressions

[XXXIV]

The game is growing on me.......Its like that ugly chick at 2 AM.......or that song says."If you cant be with the one you love, Lve the one your with".........

Welll.................14 dropped passes in 3 games by my ALL American have changed that to growing on me to distaste........slowdown and downgraded graphics really look bad when your gameplay has turned to poop.......

Suds and Bad you have hit nail on head.........We have digressed........

[Dave]

I was very fired up to pop this game in, since I hadn't played an NCAA game since Chris Weinke graced the 2002 cover.

But I just don't get it right now. Everyone seems to have the same initial reaction. HFA is cool...but the game has no flow. I only have Madden 2004 with which to compare it as far as modern football games go, but crap, that game flowed a lot better. Also my first football game for the XBox, but that shouldn't matter.

On a positive note, I was able to gain over 100 yards on the ground against IU.

Hopefully sliders can fix this one. I can't even think about jumping online with my ability (or lack thereof at this point.

Dave

[wco81]

BL used a keyboard last year.

I get the sense that he gets a lot of contributions.

Not that that's the reason he's doing it. But he's gotten recognition for his efforts.

He said he stayed up until 5 AM on Sat. and Sunday.

So I guess what you're trying to say without actually coming out and saying it is that you don't think what he does is a big deal, correct?

Brett

No someone said previously that he was using a controller and I was pointing out that wasn't the case.

I told BL about using the keyboard last year.

[Inuyasha]

I was very fired up to pop this game in, since I hadn't played an NCAA game since Chris Weinke graced the 2002 cover.

But I just don't get it right now. Everyone seems to have the same initial reaction. HFA is cool...but the game has no flow. I only have Madden 2004 with which to compare it as far as modern football games go, but crap, that game flowed a lot better. Also my first football game for the XBox, but that shouldn't matter.

On a positive note, I was able to gain over 100 yards on the ground against IU.

Hopefully sliders can fix this one. I can't even think about jumping online with my ability (or lack thereof at this point.

Dave

I've heard it said in some forums today that this game feels like ncaa2004v2. But for me, this feels more like madden2004v2. Last years madden game had the same slow methodical pace to it like ncaa does this year.

[Dave]

Weaver, not sure I agree with that. Maybe it was using the Vikings with Bennett and Moss, but the game felt explosive as hell compared to this muddy-field game in NCAA.

And to make sure I wasn't bad because Notre Dame isn't very good, I played a game as USC. First quarter, 4 passes to Mike Williams, 3 drops (2 he was covered, but open).

[XXXIV]

Trying a 40 yd fg (FROM THE 23)and I cant make out the goal posts......Maybe its the sun or something???...This also never happened in last yrs game

[Leebo33]

There is something very odd going on. I don't always get slowdown to the same degree even if I play the same game (MSU at Penn State) in the same conditions. I can see why some people haven't seen the slowdown. Very strange. Also, earlier I said that I saw a noticeable difference in speed in a Miami/FSU game. I thought it was because they are faster teams, but I just played a game tonight and I swear it was faster.

I think I am going nuts, but I can't ever recall seeing this in a game before. I just played a quarter and used the NCAA camera and the speed felt OK and their was no slowdown. Maybe I am just getting used to it, but you would think I would always be used to it.

[Bill_Abner]

I am officially shelving this game until football season starts; I cannot believe how underwhelmed I am by this game, and I dunno if it's just that there isn't a whole lot new or a whole lot fixed or that the friggin BASEBALL ALL STAR GAME is on and a new football game is out...regardless, I am just not into the game at all at the moment. It's a feeling I certainly didn't expect.

[Dave]

Now I don't feel so bad about my kicking woes, I'm having the same issue there, figured I had a bum kicker.

I thought of some other way to explain NCAA 2005's disappointing experience to this point. To me, it kind of feels like your typical EA game combined with the GBA Madden games (or old Genesis/SNES Madden games if you prefer). I got that feeling on a kick return, that's just how it felt to me. That combined with the passes bouncing off receivers left and right, as well as some of the other early gripes on gameplay, gives me that impression.

Agree, disagree?

Dave

[kevinpars]

With all the great features that Sega football has used over the years, why did EA feel compelled to only steal the 'dropped passes' concept from ESPN/Sega?

I love college FB and I love this game. That may be mulish of me. I could care less about the time of year. To me, the true test will be a week from today. Sure, I will play NCAA because it is the only college game in town. But if ESPN plays a better and better looking and feeling brand of [i]football[/i], then i may find myself spending more time with it and less time with NCAA.

I think whoever pointed out that the AI sucks because some plays are simply bad and don't work no matter how much better the offensive players are -is a valid point. With the run/block AI turned all the way up for the AI team, I can still stop the runner in the backfield on some plays.

Imagine playing a game where every offensive play you run is from the "Ask Corso" feature. Try it and see how frustrated you get. Then consider that 'Corso' is not calling the plays but the AI is calling them and that every game you play against the computer most likely uses the same "logic" as the "Ask Corso" 'feature'.

If all NCAA football teams had Jeff Bowden calling the plays as offensive coordinator, this would be incredibly realistic. But all offensive coordinators are not as quick to give up on the run and sling the ball down the field.

[Brando70]

Well, I have to say, after reading the negative feedback, I was bracing for the worst. I played two games last night, AA default, 5 minute. One game of Iowa State vs. Iowa (me), one Air Force (me) vs. Army.

My first impression is that I suck at this game. I lost both games 12-0 and 14-0. Didn't really come close to scoring with Iowa, as I was unlearning all the ESPN controls (especially defensive switching). With Air Force, I started to get the hang of it and was driving late until I threw a pick. I will need a lot of practice to get used to this game.

Okay, real impressions (XBox):

GOOD
--I like HFA a lot. I know some people hate the shaking, but it really added a good element to the game for me. What was cool was that the larger Iowa crowd had lots of shaking, the smaller Army crowd didn't.

--Crowd noise is amazing. It seems like a small thing, but after playing ESPN Baseball all summer, I remembered how much atmosphere a good crowd provides.

--I like the slower speed, although it takes getting used to. I always thought NCAA was a tad too fast, and that my offensive success (especially on the run) came from rock-paper-scissors playcalling instead of being able to react as plays developed.

--The defense definitely feels beefier. First play on D in the Iowa game, my DT made a nice move and got a sack.

--CPU surprised me by actually running a fair amount in both games, especially in the first halves. They weren't terribly effective, but still added decent amounts of runs, especially considering ISU and Army use more wide-open offenses.

--I like the less-accurate QBs. In the Air Force-Army game, the Army QB let a pass over the middle sail a bit, and my deep covering safety grabbed the overthrow. It's also a lot harder to throw while scrambling.

BAD
--This game looks like ass. Totally washed out, turf looks terrible, grass stains are so overdone. NFL 2k1 looked better than this.

--WTF is with the dropped passes? If a guy gets drilled after catching it, that's one thing. But when a D-I starting receiver catches a ball on a slant and has a second to pull it in, most of the time he pulls it in. I could catch better than these jokers. Hope sliders fix this or I will need a new controller before the season is over.

--Same with the tipped passes. I had a four-tipper already and I've only played two games.

--Bill Abner was right, CPU offense was pretty inept on AA default. Granted, I had the better team in both games, but they really didn't do much except for a few big plays that were more my control woes than AI skill.

--CPU playcalling still seems random. My opponents ran a decent amount, but late in the game with two-score leads, they were throwing a lot of passes.

--I agree with JRod that, at least with Air Force, some plays just don't seem to work. I was starting to get the hang of the Flexbone Option by the end of the game, but those WB plays seem to take too long to develop to be effective.

Overall, I'm left with a positive impression, but not an excited one. I hope that, with some slider adjustments and some practice, this will be fun and challenging, especially with the harder defense. But right now this game doesn't touch either ESPN 2k4 or even last year's Madden IMHO.

[rheller]

After playing two exhibition games lastnight on AA, I have to say that I like the game so far. It is not light years ahead of what was produced last year, but it was still fun.

Likes:

-Homefield advantage. I played one game at home (SDSU) and one game away (Hawaii). I liked pumping up the crowd on 3rd downs. It was neat to see the WRs throwing up their hands in confusion. I thought the shaking of the screen was a nice touch also. It also worked against me when I was in Hawaii. On a crucial 3rd and 1, I called a HB dive play to the left. I hiked the ball and my guys went to the right. The result was my QB ran back with the ball and was sack for a loss of 6. I wouldn't want to see this a lot, but every now and then would be perfect.

-Pace of the game. It has been slowed down. It helps me while running the ball. Last year I tried to bounce everything to the outside. After a couple of games I'm able to run inside a little.

-Running game. I've run a few sucessful sweeps and tosses. These plays were taken out of my playcalling the last few years. New animations.

-YAC. Last year I was usually tackled after I caught the ball. I've already busted a couple receptions for big gains. Got one on a comback route. The CB went to the inside I spun to the outside and I was off to the races.


Dislikes:

-Kicking game. If the ball was past the 20 yd line I didn't even come close to making it. I admit that I didn't hit the spots on some of the kicks, but on two occations I hit it dead on and I was short twice. (37 yd and 39 yd) I think kickers in college can make these kicks.

-Receivers inability to catch. This was a complaint last year. I can understand not being able to catch a ball in traffic. I like to run a lot of crossing routes. If my receiver is open across the middle he should catch the ball.

I'm sure I'll have more of both when I start a dynasty.

[wco81]

Observations for PS2 version:

* Menus online and offline are sluggish. Plus they prompt you to save after each change. Too many of these warning and prompt dialogs. Last year, there was an auto-save option. I don't see one this year.

* No saved audibles online. Playbooks seem locked to their teams this year. That means some non-team-specific playbooks like Run Balanced or West Coast Offense can't be accessed online. This is almost a deal breaker, as bad as ESPN NFL's inability to use custom playbooks (also meaning no saved audibles online).

* Graphics dosn't seem as bright as last year or I was in some dusk games. Grass has a pastel shade rather than the darker green of last year. Players don't have the sharp outline against the grass that they did last year.

* Option game is harder. Defenders smarter about defending option and defensive linemen shed the blocks must better, putting pressure on QB so that he can't pitch at optimal time.

* Suction blocking still there. I haven't tried too many wide blitzes with CBs yet but the front four, just stays around the line. The DEs most of the time engage with the tackles rather than trying to run around them, as if they're playing contain. QB can drop way back and still throw effectively.

* In fact, game seems to punish quick throws as they are often off-target. Simple swing or flares doesn't work unless you loop the ball a bit, even though the RB may be wide open. The rationale is that the QB doesn't really set his feet well. But that means such dumpoffs to the RB or slants to WRs are harder and you often can't deliver the pass when they're most open.

* Pass defense somewhat better but still inadequate, especially combined with the QB haven't a lot of time. One guy I played ran just one play, from the I-formation where Bush runs a little circle route and he audibles Williams deep. The circle route was open all day and the QB was able to roll out, either to line up a bomb to Williams or to get a better angle on that circle route to the RB. Defenders are on the ball and I was double-teaming Williams but no matter, he was getting a lot of completions. Better but still not good enough.

* Defenders go for fewer interceptions and does a lot of swatting. I haven't seen as many of the tipped passes yet. The drops are a bit ridiculous but I think some of them may have to do with the fact that you throw a quick pass or your QB's feet isn't really set, the passes may be harder to catch even though many of them seem pretty on target.

[Zeppo]

One thing is very clear; the online situation is a disaster. First, it takes me like 5 tries to get onto the EA servers. Then, it seems like a crap-shoot as to whether or not my friends list can be accessed.

Last night after the baseball game, everything alligned properly, my friends list was working, and I was able to get marino's attention and invite him to chat. Of course I couldn't challenge him while in voice chat with him; it told me he was 'busy with another player.' But he left the VC, I challenged him and we got a game on.

First of all, this is still XBL. The headset makes such a difference. And the game ran as smooth as offline. There was some slowdown, but it's sort of subtle, and everything seemed very smooth to me. No hiccups, no jumpy lag, none of that.

Secondly, we played an awesome game of football. It was a total blast. Yeah, there were a few frustrating things. One time I downed a punt on the 5, or so I thought, only to see a crowd of players bumping into each other kick the ball into the endzone. That WAS frustrating, although it's not like I've never seen such idiotic behavior IRL. Despite my inablility to move the ball well (I only had 23 plays by game's end), I got a sweet pick for a score late in the game to make it 10-7 for me. Marino drove down and kicked the FG with the clock running out to take it to OT. In OT I chose D, and marino gained 5 on 1st down, but then fell apart! He even missed the FG (a bit of a slice). 1st down for me, off tackle right, around the end and past the overcommitted blitzing SS and TD, GAME OVER!!! AWESOME GAME!!!

It will take me a bit to get a handle on moving the ball consistently, but, this being my first game played with NCAA 2005, I had a total blast, a really fun online, head-to-head video game. I'm having issues hitting the Sega buttons (especially on D switching) and one time I really wish I knew the 'throw away' button. But for the most part, the game made sense to me and played pretty well. A couple of good runs to the outside, a couple pounding runs up the middle, a really nice screen pass to the WR where I got a couple of sweet blocks, another nice screen to the HB for 10. I hit a few passes down field, and got sacked enough times to frustrate me. Interestingly, after I picked him (really it was all CPU, as it was on an out pattern; my difficulty was staying in bounds after the pick, and running down the line for the score), marino's QB was rattled for a long while, and it made him super-wary of throwing the ball again! I thought that was kind of cool. We'll see if it's too extreme, or works just right.

You guys all know that I tire quickly of playing against the CPU. I'm sure I'll get my healthy share of games in v. the CPU, but I'll never expect to have even a smidgeon of the same fun as I have when playing v. a human. So, my scale of judgement is very different than most. And for me, well, I'm glad I bought this game. If online games work (who knew it would take longer to connect to the EA servers than it does for the game itself to boot up on the machine???), I'm expecting lots of great games in NCAA, just like last year.

[reeche]

The drops are a bit ridiculous but I think some of them may have to do with the fact that you throw a quick pass or your QB's feet isn't really set, the passes may be harder to catch even though many of them seem pretty on target.

That's still my major annoyance. Obviously players aren't going to catch everything but when and why receivers drop the ball is a mystery to me. If I don't set my feet or I throw a quick pass, the pass should be off-target but it isn't. It goes right to the receiver and doinks off of him, often without an animation like he was even trying to catch it. Very frustrating NFL 2k3 was annoying with it's dropped because everytime a receiver caught the ball and got hit, he would drop it, but at least I understand why that occured and tried to only throw to open receivers. NCAA seems to have both isssues. Players who drop the ball when they get hit and players who drop it for no reason and both cases seem to occur too frequently. I haven't messed with the sliders yet though so perhaps that is fixable.

[RiverRat]

--This game looks like ass. Totally washed out, turf looks terrible, grass stains are so overdone. NFL 2k1 looked better than this.

That's my biggest non game-play complaint too. I played an hour and a half on the PS2 and I kept thinking how bad the game looked. It was like the brightness on my TV was turned all the way up and I couldn't turn it down. Uniforms looked faded and the turf was way too light for my taste.

I played two games ... Mizzou (me) vs. LSU and Army (me) vs. Louisville using my AA sliders on AA from last year. Both games were competitive but I can't say either of them was fun. Gameplay wise, I agree with the complaints about the dropped passes and the difficulty getting passes through to the receivers in general. Perhaps turning the AI defensive awareness quite a bit will help with the blanket coverage, but turning up the receiving and accuracy sliders won't help if the ball never gets through the coverage. The AI didn't run as well as I remember from last year's game either, which is disappointing because I can't do much more with sliders to make it better. It was only about a 35/65 ratio for the two games combined.

Bottom line is I was a little underwhelmed. I really like the addition of the rotating schedules and some of the stat-tracking additions were pretty nice too. All-conference teams are also pretty neat. The HFA stuff didn't seem to be much more than glitz (quite the annoying crowd meter at the top right), and of the additions I thought could be made from the 2004 game, this was one I didn't really think was missing anyway.

Maybe messing with sliders will help a little with my passing and the AI running game. Even if it works, though, the graphcs are going to be hard to look at. I popped in 2004 for a few minutes this morning and felt a lot more comfortable. It just felt more fun.

The other thing I didn't like about 2005 was that the menus and interfaces for some reason took something away from the feel of it being a college football game. I really missed the block letter style and the prominance of the team colors in all the team interfaces from 2004, and the psuedo-scoreboard look in the in-game play calling and data screens. Other than the crowd noise and HFA effects, 2005 seems a lot more sanitized, which is too bad.

[Sudz]

The biggest problem are the GIANT R and L icons obstructing the line. Too bad those icons wern't assigned to the wide outs.

[dbdynsty25]

Steve...you asked for my impressions:

Unless you are in dire need of updated rosters...2005 isn't that great. I personally though 2004 was a lot better. It is probably due to the fact that I'm not used to the controls yet (I played ESPN all last year with just a hint of NCAA 2004) so that might be the reason for my frustration. There just isn't anything that is 'better' about 2005 in my opinion.

Sure they added HFA and some stupid matchup f'n stick bullsh*t...but why is the game uglier than last year? I can't even read the f'n numbers on the back of my dudes jerseys it's so blocky and unclear. There is no excuse for that with the systems we've got out these days.

I'm almost 100% sure that once ESPN comes out next week...NCAA will be shelved until the NCAA season starts. It's just not a good game. I'm just a sucker for accurate rosters or else I'd just go rebuy 2004 and go on with my life.

So far I'm very frustrated with the step back EA took.

Not to mention the server issues...I'm experiencing all of them too.

[grtwhtsk]

Steve...you asked for my impressions:

Unless you are in dire need of updated rosters...2005 isn't that great. I personally though 2004 was a lot better. It is probably due to the fact that I'm not used to the controls yet (I played ESPN all last year with just a hint of NCAA 2004) so that might be the reason for my frustration. There just isn't anything that is 'better' about 2005 in my opinion.

Sure they added HFA and some stupid matchup f'n stick bullsh*t...but why is the game uglier than last year? I can't even read the f'n numbers on the back of my dudes jerseys it's so blocky and unclear. There is no excuse for that with the systems we've got out these days.

I'm almost 100% sure that once ESPN comes out next week...NCAA will be shelved until the NCAA season starts. It's just not a good game. I'm just a sucker for accurate rosters or else I'd just go rebuy 2004 and go on with my life.

So far I'm very frustrated with the step back EA took.

Not to mention the server issues...I'm experiencing all of them too.

Thanks Scott. I appreciate it big time.

Anyone know if someone might just do a roster update for NCAA 2004?

[Leebo33]

I bit the bullet and moved back to varsity tonight with sliders in the CPU favor and I had a lot more fun. I actually scored some TDs and gave up more points as well. DBs played a lot more realistically and the drops were minimal. It may be too easy in the long run, but it was good to have scoring for a change.

[Brando70]

So far, three games, three shutouts, although at least in game three, I did the shutting out. I played again on AA default with 5 min quarters.

Won 31-0 as Air Force at Navy. Finally got the hang of the running game. Ran the ball 31 times for 130 yards and only passed 3 times (missing all three). I picked off 2 passes (1 for a TD) and recovered a fumble, while throwing an interception on one of my passing attempts. The Flexbone finally seemed to work, as I was able to run the option as well as direct runs with the FB and WB, including a nice WB scamper up the middle that I broke for a 40 yard TD.

Nice thing was the CPU ran 26 times and passed 13. They kept running even when behind, as Navy is a run-oriented team. They went 4-13 passing for only about 25 yards, but had about 60 yards on the ground.

Anyway, this evening I felt like I started to see the balanced game that may be hidden in here somewhere. Probably will start doing some slider tweaking to see if I can get those passing percentages up.

[Parker]

I am actually surprised that with some significant slider adjustment, I am getting fairly realistic games, I am beating the teams I should and losing the teams I should. The cpu can run against me, and they don't give up on the run too early. Though if they come out intent to pass, they usually will stick to it. I still am not very good at passing, but after slider adjustments, I can't really complain that my average receivers are dropping too many balls.

Also, I was surprised that the slowdown isn't more apparant because usually when people have complained about framerate in EA's Xbox games, I have problems with it. There is almost no slowdown in many stadiums, and while it slows down in the bigger stadiums, I don't find it as bad as in NBA Live or MVP.

But that said, I don't have that play one more game feeling. I haven't started a dynasty or tried to play online, but right now, it feels too much like the game in the past years which I have played to death.

[Blublub]

Yeah, now that I've settled down and have a few more games under my belt, I'm probably in a better position to comment.

Big Problems:

- Dropped passes. This is annoying the hell out of me and may end up being a gamebreaker. It's very nearly as bad as NFL 2K3 and happens with no rhyme or reason whatsoever. In fact, is it just me or does it seem like the only time you CAN catch reliably is when you force a pass into triple coverage? This is stupid beyond belief. I'm playing on AA with catching sliders turned all the way up for CPU and me and being careful to hit the manual catch button at the right time.
- Xbox Live support. EA better get their s*** together pretty quick or the one compelling reason for upgrading is gone. I still have not been able to hook up to play a game. 90% of the time the EA server is down entirely. The other times I disconnect before even getting to launch the game.
- Still too many plays that will never work against the CPU.

Smaller/cosmetic problems:

- Grass stains are ridiculous.
- Lack of updated uniforms (Arizona and Temple stand out so far.)
- Graphics in general do seem to be a downgrade. Little things like everyone being #11 in overhead view are disappointing. Shadow effects are much nicer, though.
- Maybe I haven't found the right button but I can't seem to figure out how to skip the cutscenes, most notably the incredibly annoying frat boys in the stands.
- The ads. It's one thing to have a Pontiac logo on the drive summary graphic, but another to have Corso et al have to state every time "And this drive summary is brought to you by the good folks at Pontiac...Pontiac, driving excitement!" or whatever it is. Not to mention the Nike pennants and the insidious ad creep everywhere else.

Lukewarm:

- Matchup stick. Still does nothing for me. It does give EA Marketing another catch phrase to put on the box, but I think that's about it.
- HFA camera shake. Nauseating, but does add to the atmosphere I guess. Do I leave it on and puke or go without?
- Create-a-sign. Wow, whatever.

Welcome Improvements:

- Love the NCAA sanctions and disciplinary measures.
- Recruiting is now even deeper.
- Proper handling of conference schedules in dynasty mode. This is the big one in my book, but it's a bug fix rather than a new feature.
- Penalty calling with default sliders is greatly improved over 2004.
- Running game is better - it's actually way more fun to run than pass, given all the drops.

Jury still out:

- Still seems like simmed scores are way too high. Coupled with the fact that games you play are more defensive than last year, there seems like a pretty large gap in the stats unless you use quarter settings that would take an eternity.
- CPU run tendancies. The more I play the more I do think this is improved, as is CPU playcalling in general. But still probably a little too heavy on the passing, especially for some teams.
- Slowdown. I've had NONE since seeing it in my very first game. Considering how I've long since changed the camera and difficulty settings I have a feeling there might be some truth to the theories going around.
- Celebrations and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Maybe it's justme, but a couple of times now I've had big plays called back for celebrating and swear I never hit the celebration trigger.

Things I would have expected would be fixed but weren't:

- Team-specific defensive sets and plays.
- Lack of full I-AA support. C'mon guys, why not include all I-AA teams? I'm dying to play with North Dakota State in that new Great West Conference. I don't know why, but I just am.
- No blocked kicks or FGs. Still can't believe they didn't fix this after all these years.
- Still apparently no snow games in dynasty, even with Maine.

[Inuyasha]

The more I play this game the more I am enjoying it. I initially had most of the same thoughts as posters on this forum, but I've been adjusting to the slower game play in this years version. The game is more challenging this year than previous years.

One tip about the dropped passes : I've improved my pass completion percentage because I am controlling my receivers before the ball gets to them. This looks to be the only solution to this problem. I had increased the slider for receiving but that seemed not to help.

[Spooky]

Wow, I just tried this game at the local Best buy. It is really bad looking. I read the impressions where most were saying it looed like ass and they were absolutely right. You can't even read the #'s on the back of the jerseys. It almost looked like a PS1 game at moments. WTF!?!?!


The 5 minutes I playe was quite enough for me to realize that the game appears to be a stpe backwards in too many respects to warrant a purchase. I cannot believe that the majority of tackles are still two guys running into each other and then falling down. Does this not bother anyone else, especially the developers????

I also noticed tons of slowdown, AND I NEVER NOTICE SLOWDOWN ON THE LAST YEAR AND A HLAF WORTH OF X-BOX GAMES!

Now I understand everyones dissapointment.